8 ways to boost your health on the daily commute

A University of West England study has found that many workers equate an increased commute time of 20-minutes with a 19% pay cut in terms of job satisfaction, and found that longer commutes have been linked with an increase in feelings of loneliness, stress and anxiety.

So if you want to fight the blues on the bus and beat the trauma on the train, here’s 8 things you can do to turn those lost hours into time well spent.

Plug in, tune out

Royal Holloway, University of London discovered that plugging into your MP3 player on crowded public transport actually shrinks the area you perceive as being your personal space. As well as reducing the impact of nose-to-nose packed tubes, your favourite music sets you for the day. Research from Social Psychological and Personality Science found listening to bass-heavy tracks can positively affect your sense of personal power and the choices you make. Psych yourself up for the workday with some choice tunes.

Go public

No trains? You may be tempted to jump in the car instead. Error; the University of East Anglia found that parking your car and going public ensures you turn up to work happier. 18000 British workers, found that cycling, boarding the train or hopping on the bus fought workers’ feelings of unhappiness, worthlessness and stress. Simply put, curtailing rush-hour road rage is enough to cheer you up.

Game on

You can’t fix the trains, but you can build cities, fight dragons and destroy whole armies, which might help you feel a tad better. Research from UCL found fast-paced strategy games enhance cognitive flexibility. You’ll want to go for something which requires a degree of mental faculties, be it Clash of Clans or timed games of Chess. Aim for a victory by the end of your journey to prime your brain for office checkmate.

Mind over Matter

You don’t have to crack out the orange robes to practise mindfulness on your commute. Just a 10-minute mental break comes scientifically proven to improve mood, reduce anxiety and lessen pain. "In essence, mindfulness allows you to catch negative thought patterns before they tip you into a downward spiral. It begins the process of putting you back in control of your life," says Professor Mark Williams of Oxford University. One of our staff members was taught to turn his commute into meditation time. Here’s how you go about it.

The Cortis-whole truth

Spend your journey beating both anxiety and weight gain. It's the stress hormone cortisol that causes your body to grab and hold onto flab, so flush it from your system by tilting your head back. Boston University found that your neck is a pressure valve; tilt up to lower your blood cortisol and desire for the biscuit tin when you arrive into work.

Aim to squeeze

Want to up your lower-body power away from the squat rack? Use your commute to focus on isometrics. By tightening your glutes 50 times consecutively, you'll give your body a growth-hormone spike (the key hormone you need to lose weight and build muscle). Your commute doesn’t have to be a pain in the backside.

“My eyes are up here…”

…but we’re not talking about ogling your fellow passengers, although you shouldn't do that either. New York Spine Surgery and Rehabilitation Medicine found the amount of force on the neck increases with the degree it is bent. Looking down at your smartphone all journey? That hunching of 45 degree adds the force of 49lbs – or 22kg – to the neck. Ouch. Fix this by raising your phone in front of your face.

Reading material

Tyrion Lannister was right: the mind really does need books like a sword needs sharpening. With age comes a decline in memory and brain function, but regular reading may help keep minds sharper for longer, according to research published in Neurology. Not staring at a screen provides a welcome break from screens and their blue light, which is known to increase cortisol levels in your body. Indulge in a favourite novel to help the commute fly by.

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